This statuette was made from a mechanically reduced model of one of the figures of the group known as the Burghers of Calais. The original figures were designed and modeled between 1884 and 1886 for the monument unveiled at Calais on June 8, 1895. The height of the monument is 86 inches. That of the original figure-studies in the Musée Rodin, Meudon, varies from 27 to 28 inches.